Fragments
by Ajerzaaddict
Summary: Oneshots written for Jerza week from 26 May to 2 June 2014 on Tumblr. Themes: Passion, Cake, Family, Reunion, Protect, Happy, Injury and Other. Rated M for chapter 1 only.
1. Day 1 Passion

A/N: This contains sexual contents but nothing's detail.

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail, Hiro Mashima does.

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Jellal and Erza had planned out everything on how to celebrate their first anniversary of being formally together. In the daytime, they would go to panic and visit Erza's favorite bakery shop to eat strawberry cake. At night, they would cook and have dinner at Jellal's home before going out for star gazing.

Everything went perfectly in the daytime. However, things didn't go the way they had planned after they returned to Jellal's home. They knew that they were supposed to cook but not make out in the kitchen, but once they started kissing, they found themselves unable to keep their hands or their mouths away from their lover's bodies.

"N-not here." Erza panted, breaking her kiss with Jellal when the man slipped a hand under her shirt to cup her breast.

He answered her with another fervent kiss on the lips while holding her tightly in his arms and guiding her to move with him to leave the kitchen. When he moved his hands down from her waist to grab her butt, she took the hint and jumped on him wrapping her arms around his neck and clamping her legs around his waist. She thought that he was going to bring her to his bedroom but when they entered the living room, he plopped down on the couch, making her sit on his lap straddling him.

Instead of focusing on Erza's lips, Jellal started kissing her chin, jaw and earlobe. But his kiss soon turned into nipping and sucking when his lips reached her neck, making the redhead throw back her head and moaned pleasurably. His hands then started unbuttoning her shirt from the top to allow the journey of his lips on her body to continue down to her collarbone and chest. But just when he was about to leave his mark on her chest like how he did on her neck, Erza's hand landed on his chest and slightly pushed him away from her. He looked at her flustered face with a puzzled frown, wondering what made she stop his advancement all of a sudden.

"N-no more m-marks on my neck or chest!" Erza stuttered a little, feeling a little bit hesitant in her heart to make such a request to Jellal. "I'm going on mission with others tomorrow."

"And…?" Jellal couldn't see there was any relationship between his love bites and Erza's mission.

"And…and, I just remembered that last time my team saw the m-marks when I requipped into my armor, I was teased by Happy, ignored by Lucy and Gray who tried to pretend they didn't notice them, and bombarded with questions from Natsu on how I got them!" Erza finished her explanation in one breath, still feeling being extremely embarrassed by the event. "So, no marks, okay?"

Jellal sighed in frustration. Erza's request was more like a test on his ability to maintain self-control. But he decided to accept the challenge, not wanting to upset her.

"Okay."

Satisfied with Jellal's respond, Erza smiled sweetly at him before sealing his lips with another passionate kiss.

However, Jellal had only managed to keep to his words during the foreplay time but not anymore once he began making love to Erza. His self-control crumbled under the intense feelings of her inner walls tightening around his erection, the sexy moans escaping her throat each time he thrust in her and the rubbing of her large breasts and hardened nipples against his chest. He was unable to think consumed by the burning desire for Erza in his heart and from his body, and the promise was left totally unattended as a result. He kissed her hard on every inch of her skin from neck to shoulders and from collarbone to chest that could be reached by his lips on impulse while going faster and harder into her, making her moan louder and her hips rise higher to meet his thrusts.

And not that Erza could make any complaint to Jellal for breaking his promise and stop him from marking her with his mouth. She was too drowned in the immense pleasure Jellal was giving her through filling her crevice with his length to care how others would react seeing his marks on her. Her mind was clouded with her lust for more of his touch both inside and on her body to satisfy her need for release, that she only felt blessed when he showered her with love bites and buried himself deep inside of her.

They continued to let their emotions and instincts to guide their actions till they reached their peaks together, being taken over by the ecstasy they had been working hard to achieve for both through caresses and kisses, thrusts and contraction.

Yet, no matter how wonderful Jellal had made her felt, it didn't help stopping Erza from panicking when she saw red bruises had formed on her neck and chest because of his kisses and nips, after waking up from the nap they took following their exhausting love making.

"Is there any armor that can cover all these marks but allow me to fight at the same time? That one is broken. That one has been sent to Heart Kreuz for repairing. And that one is…Oh no, how am I supposed to go on a mission with my team now?" Erza asked helplessly, before eyeing Jellal unhappily. "You had promised me that you wouldn't leave marks!"

"I know. I'm sorry that I've lost control. But I really couldn't help it." Jellal circled his arms around Erza's waist. "You are too addicting."

As if to prove his words, he learned in to capture Erza's lips with his again.

"Forgive me, will you?" He asked after ending the kiss.

"Only if you swear that you'll keep your words next time in the same situation."

Jellal considered Erza's condition for a moment.

"Let me offer you something better. How about me buying you as much armor as you want which will not expose your neck and chest?" He held her closer to him and whispered into her ears. "I know you enjoy my nips. With the new armor, you don't have to worry about other seeing the marks I leave on you anymore."

There was a moment of silence fell between them before Erza answered Jellal.

"O-okay."

Jellal chuckled. Even without seeing, he knew that Erza's face must have turned as red as the color of her hair.


	2. Day 2 Cake

A/N: Thanks to everyone who favorited and followed Fragments and to those who reviewed Day 1.

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima dose.

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Jellal sighed heavily after leaving Magic Council's headquarters.

_This is how karma works__ I guess__._

He still remembered that when he was a Council Member, he found it really interesting to listen to Guild Masters explaining and defending the misbehaviors of their guilds' members in the trials. It was like hearing a recount of some most ridiculous adventure stories in which all characters were idiots. He never would have imagined that he would become one of these Guild Masters one day, standing in front of the Council Members in a trial, fabricating excuses to explain the accidents caused by the members of his guilds and asking for pardon from the Council.

And the experience was far from being interesting. Although he rarely gave any hard time to the Guild Masters when he was the Council Member, he was under unusual intensive interrogation from the Council Members when he became the Guild Master who was subject to trial. He did, however, understand the reasons behind the special treatment he received. Although he and his members had proven with their actions that they deserved an opportunity to live a normal life for once despite of the grave mistakes they had made in the past and therefore, received a special pardon from the Council, the Council would want to be cautious when dealing with his guild because after all, all its' members were dangerous ex-criminals.

So he decided that he shouldn't waste his time on complaining the Council's way of doing things. Instead, he figured that he would need to have a serious talk with his members to remind them reckless actions should be avoided as much as possible in the future. It would be another big challenge for him, knowing that his members were not easy going people to deal with either.

Deep in his own thought, Jellal crossed his arms and walked down the street leading to the train station without playing much attention to the various shops decorated beautifully trying to catch his eye. It was only when he passed by a bakery that something finally caught his attention. There were several three-dimensional posters plastered on the front wall of the shop and each of them presented a different cake which could be bought from the bakery. His sight fell on the light blue colored one with a strawberry cake stood at its centre and with the line "Best Selling Cake!" printed at the bottom of it, and the image of Erza eating strawberry cake formed in his mind.

Jellal was not one who had a sweet tooth that he never considered dessert particular attractive. Therefore, what was so special about the combination of strawberry, flour, egg and cream to be able to make Erza look so delighted and satisfied as if her life had been made complete whenever she took a bit of strawberry cake, was always a mystery to him. What he was sure about though, was that Erza's face lit up with heartfelt happiness because of her favorite dessert was truly a beautiful scene to behold.

He wondered if there would be a day when he would become the reason behind that happy expression on her face. And would there be a day when he would find that one special thing which would bring the same expression on his face.

Or he had already known what the source of his happiness was. It was just that he didn't dare to approach it thinking he still didn't have the right to claim it.

Jellal let out a tiring sigh. He should stop drowning himself with these depressing thoughts. He already had a bunch of unresolved issues with the Magic Council and with his guild to keep him stressed. He was quite in need of something which could lighten up his mood instead.

Still had his gaze fixed on the picture of strawberry cake, Jellal decided, rather intuitively, that it wasn't a bad idea to try to make himself feel better by treating himself with the kind of cake which could do magic on putting Erza in a good mood under no matter what circumstances.

Having taken a few more steps forwards, he stood in front of the glass door of the bakery which immediately slipped open automatically having detected the presence of customer. He stepped inside the shop and was greeted by a smiling young lady standing behind the cake display cabinet.

"A piece of strawberry cake, please." Since he had already decided what to order outside the shop, Jellal didn't spend any time on checking the different kinds of cakes in the cabinet.

"Yes. Stay here or take away, Sir?"

He hadn't thought about where to eat the cake before. He glanced around the shop and found two empty small round tables and a few chairs several steps away on his left, just beside the only window in the shop.

"Stay here, please."

"Sure." The lady opened the door of the cabinet from the back, picked a piece of the requested cake with a cake tongs and placed it on a plate. "350 Jewels, please."

"Here." He paid the amount and took the plate with the cake on it together with a fork passed to him by the lady. "Thanks."

"You're welcomed, Sir."

Jellal moved to one of the tables to put down the plate, sat down on a random chair and then started eating the cake. He found that the dessert actually tasted better than he had expected. The strawberries were juicy, the cake was rich and fluffy and the cream was smooth too. With each bite of the cake he took, he couldn't stop imaging how Erza would look like if she was the one who was eating the cake in front of him now, and his lips naturally curved up in a small but contented smile. By the time he finished the cake, he could really feel that his heavy heart had been lightened significantly; although he couldn't decide whether it was the magic of the cake or his imagination on Erza which truly helped improving his mood.

But then, Erza was the reason why he would notice the poster outside the bakery and who led him to think that strawberry cake might be the solution to his distress. She was, in fact, the one who could always bring happiness to him even without trying.

He wanted to thank her.

Jellal approached the lady again and made an enquiry on whether they provided delivery service for cake.

"We do. But there will be extra fees for delivery and for the magic box for preserving the cake."

Jellal nodded his understanding.

"I want to order a strawberry cake to be delivered to Magnolia."

Even he couldn't be the source of Erza's happiness like how she being his, at least he could offer her the thing which would make her happy.

"Magnolia is a bit far away from here, so it will take a day for the cake to arrive there. Also, the cake is 2800 Jewels and the delivery fee would be 1800 Jewels. Is it acceptable to you, Sir?"

"It's fine. And can I borrow a pen and paper? I want to write my friend a message to be sent out together with the cake."

"Sure. Please also provide the address to us."

After completing his order, Jellal left the bakery and continued his walk to the train station. With the new found energy to deal with the problems between the Magic Council and his guild and also the thought of Erza happily eating the cake he bought her, he had a relieved small smile linger on his lips all the time on his way back to his guild.

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A/N: A sequel to this will be posted under Day 6.


	3. Day 3 Family

A/N: I appreciate everyone's review, favorite and follow, as always.

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima dose.

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When Erza heard the first sound of crying coming from her 5-day old baby girl in the middle of the night, she immediately woke up from her light sleep. Switching on the bedside lamp, she was prepared to get out of the bed to go to her daughter's side but her husband's voice brought a stop to her movement.

"Anything I can help?" Getting up from the bed, Jellal asked Erza sounding concerned.

Smiling, Erza shook her head.

"It's time to feed her."

Jellal nodded his understanding. Erza then went to pick up their little princess who was still crying due to hungry from the cot and cuddled her lovingly.

"Mama's here."

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.

_Erza woke up from the middle of her sleep, hearing the sound of sobbing from someone in the __cell__. She was really tired, after another day of exhausting hard work in the Tower,__ that the precious time of resting being interrupted was not really something being welcomed. _

_S__he could ignore __the sobbing by covering her ears with her hands and try to go back to sleep. Or she could speak up and ask the crying one to keep quiet so as to not disturb other's sleeping. But she didn't. She got up from the stony ground she was lying on and looked around, trying to see who was sobbing under the dim moonlight shining through the small barred window opened up high on the wall behind her. Her eyes then locked on the only other girl in the cell lying on the ground under the opposite wall whose body curled up like a ball and was trembling. She got on all four and crawled to her friend._

"_Millianna, what happened?" Erza asked in a low voice._

_Millianna raised her head to look at Erza, tears on her face._

"_Er-er-chan." Millianna said through her sobs. "I-I dreamed of my papa and mama. I miss them."_

_Erza didn't know what to say to comfort the younger girl. She didn't even know who her own parents were being an orphan. Of course she would wonder who they were and why they abandoned her, but she knew it was different from Millianna's feeling of missing her parents. And she wasn't sure if sharing her experience of living without parents' love and care would make Millianna feel better. Therefore, she simply sat down beside Millianna and patted on her back while the younger girl continued to sob._

"_Millianna, why are you crying? Are you feeling not well?" _

_Jellal's worried voice brought Erza's head up. She watched the blue haired boy kneeled down at her right side and noticed Simon, Sho and Wally standing behind him._

"_She dreamed of her papa and mama." Looking at Jellal, Erza answered in Millianna's place with a hint of sadness in her voice. "She misses them." _

"_I-I miss my parents too." Sho spoke with a small and slightly trembling voice and tears started to spill out from his eyes. _

"_I miss my brother." Lowering his head, Wally said depressingly. _

"_And I hope that my sister is safe." Simon whispered wishfully._

_Jellal's eyes were darting from Sho to Wally then to Simon as he listened to them talking about their feelings. When the boys stopped talking, he glanced at Millianna before turning to look at Erza._

"_J-Jellal?" Erza hesitantly asked, feeling a little bit awkward after holding Jellal's gaze for a moment a bit too long without hearing a word from him and hoping that he could tell her what to do to comfort their friends._

_Jellal then smiled warmly at her as if to assure her that everything would be fine. _

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.

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Leaning on the pillow put up at the headboard of her bed, Erza held her baby girl safely in her arms and started breastfeeding her with her eyes fixed on the baby's little pink face. Jellal was sitting beside them, observing them attentively.

"Is she doing it well?" Jellal asked out of both curiosity and concern.

"Yes, she's doing very well in the sucking and swallowing and gets what she needs." Erza answered while smiling at herself before raising her head to look at Jellal. "You can go back to sleep first."

"No, I want to stay up with you two." Jellal wrapped an arm around Erza's shoulders and looked into her eyes with deep affection. "How could I go to bed and let you do the parent's job alone?"

.

.

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_Jellal stood up from his kneeling position._

"_Don't lose your faith in meeting your family once again. I believe that we will find a way to escape this Tower one day." Jellal encouraged his friends. "And you are not alone here even though you are away from your real family. Don't we have each other and Grandpa Rob? I think we are like a family too."_

_Hearing Jellal's speech, Millianna sat up and wiped away the failing tears from her face._

"_So, c-can I…have Er-chan as my mama here?" She looked at Erza who was brushing at her request before turning to look at the four boys. "And will one of you be my papa here?"_

_Hearing Millianna's last question, Erza glanced at the boys too before she finally fixed her gaze on Jellal who was chuckling._

"_I don't think so. Aren't we all too young to be papa and mama? You are all like brothers and sisters to me and Grandpa Rob is like, well, my Grandpa."_

"_Jellal's right! Let's be brothers and sisters here before we meet our real family again!" Wally suggested, sounding excited._

"_O-okay!" Millianna agreed with a nod of her head, finally stopped crying and smiled a little._

"_I-I'm happy to have you all as my brothers and sisters because I don't have any in my real family being the only child." Sho said timidly. _

"_It sounds good." Simon commented curtly while glancing at Erza who had reminded silent._

_Jellal was also aware that Erza seemed to be deep in her own thought for a while. With a closer look at her, he found that she was frowning slightly._

"_Erza, is there anything wrong?" _

_Erza looked up and her heart skipped a bit as she met Jellal's concerned gaze. She immediately averted her eyes from him. _

"_N-no."_

_Erza didn't mind being sister to Millianna, Sho, Wally and Simon. However, she felt there was something wrong if she treated Jellal as a brother. She tried to pinpoint why she would feel this way but still couldn't figure out the reason up till she heard Jellal calling her._

"_Are you sure? You look like there's something troubling you."_

"_I-I'm fine. I'm just…" Erza let out a yawn while trying to think of an excuse to explain her troubled look not wanting to tell Jellal about her doubt. "I'm just sleepy, I guess." _

"_Oh, I see." Jellal accepted Erza's explanation easily. "I think we should all go back to sleep then." _

_Agreeing with what Jellal said since they indeed needed more sleep before facing another day of hard work, they went back to the position where they were sleeping before. While trying to understand the unexplained feelings she felt towards Jellal, Erza slowly fell back into sleep_

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The baby girl fell back into sleep in Erza's arms after Erza fed her. Erza put her down in the cot but stayed at her bedside, smiling fondly at her lovely face. Jellal who stood behind her wife with his arms wrapped around her waist and his chin rested on her shoulder, was also looking at their daughter with tender gaze.

"She's so beautiful." Erza whispered.

"She looks like you, love." Jellal gave Erza a peck on her cheek. "And she's a miracle to me. I never thought that after hurting you so much, there'll still be a day for you to give birth to my child."

"Is that so? But you know what? I can never imagine me giving birth to a child whose father isn't you." Erza turned around in her husband's arms and looked up into his eyes. "You've always been the only one I'm in love with."

"You are my one and only too, Erza. I love you."

Leaning down, Jellal kissed Erza on the lips deeply.

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.

.

_It was when Jellal came to rescue her and took her place to receive punishment that Erza finally realized why Jellal couldn't be her brother figure. He was her knight in shining armor who always protected her from the Tower's rulers. And he should take her with him to leave the Tower and then they would live together happily ever after. They would be family. However, it wouldn't be the kind with them being brother and sister but one which would turn them into the father and mother to some lovely children one day because she loved him not in a brotherly way but romantically._

_She wouldn't allow her knight to die in the Tower. She would be the knight to save him this time and when they were free, she would marry him one day to build a true family with him._


	4. Day 4 Reunion

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail, Hiro Mashima dose.

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To finally meet the one person you always long for and are in love with again after your separation should be a happy and sweet experience. However, when Erza lied on the bed staring at the empty space beside her where Jellal was sleeping at before she woke up, she couldn't help but feel that as much as she cherished every opportunity she had to meet with the blue haired man, their reunion never really ended well.

Their many separations and reunions all began when Jellal banished her from the Tower of Heaven.

Erza remembered how utterly shock and angry she was when she met Jellal for the first time after she left the Tower at the Magic Council's headquarters. Without thinking, she requipped into her armor and charged at him while tears threatened to fall from her eyes. But her attack was easily blocked by the blue haired man. He introduced himself as Jellal's twin brother "Seigrain". He teased at her reckless and naivety for mistaking him as Jellal and warned her to behave if she wanted her friends at the Tower to be safe. She despised "Seigrain" for siding with Jellal instead of stopping Jellal's evil plan, especially when he was a Council Member and Ten Wizard Saint. But deep in her heart, she was also disappointed that she was only seeing Jellal's twin brother but not Jellal himself.

When Erza finally met Jellal in the Tower again, it was a total disaster. In order to complete the last step to revive Zeref, he was willing to do anything which would make her submit to him. He hurt her comrades, fought with her, tricked her into believing his lies, offered her as the sacrifice while telling her that he used to love her and killed Simon who shielded her from his attack. All her hopes of saving Jellal from Zeref's spirit shattered and she felt that she had never hated him this much before. His death was her relief, but it was also a tragic which broke her heart into tiny pieces. It pained her to think that she failed once again in saving him. She could only seek comfort by telling herself that at least, his soul was finally freed from the cursed Tower.

Erza never would have imagined that there would be a day for her to see Jellal living again, because how would she know that he hadn't died but only fell into an indefinite comatose after taking her place to fuse with the Etherion. And as if his revival thanks to Wendy wasn't shocking enough, Jellal just had to make their reunion more dramatic by telling her that he didn't remember anything except for her name. It wasn't easy for her to try to help him remember his terrible past while keeping his will to live on. But it was also an undeniable fact that she would rather see him having anesthesia instead of being possessed by Zeref's spirit. When they fought against the enemies together, she couldn't help but started thinking that after everything was over, it might be the time when they could start a new phase in their relationship. But fate had a different plan for them. Jellal needed to pay the price for the crimes he committed in the past, and she could only respect the law and his decision to let him be taken away. His arrestment hurt her even more than the time when he disappeared in the Etherion because she didn't want to see him die when he had returned to his true good self whom she loved. She let her tears fall free as she failed to keep her broken heart intact, not believing that miracle would happen one more time for her to have Jellal back in her life again.

It turned out that what Erza found hard to believe was how incredibly lucky Jellal and she were to be able to escape from Magic Council's execution and Acnologia's attack respectively and once again, to see each other after she woke up from her seven years' sleep at Tenrou Island. But then luck alone couldn't solve all the problems in their relationship that things didn't go smooth when they met as usual.

They tried to confess to each other but failed when Jellal pushed her away because of guilt and she struggled to accept that they couldn't be together because he was a fugitive. Then he just had to prove again how unpredictable he was by showing up in Fairy Tail disguising as Mystogan to investigate the mysterious dark magic he felt in the Grand Magic Games. She wasn't happy with his plan, not only because his action could bring troubles to both his and her guilds, but also because it would make it harder for her to keep her feelings for him at bay when he was around her. Her worries for him only deepened when she found out how much Kagura and Millianna wanted to kill him for taking Simon's life away. But before she could find him and warn him about the girls' intention, the competition among magic guilds turned into a war against the dragons. She was thankful that Jellal saved her just in time when she was almost killed by the mini dragons and that the girls hadn't taken any real action to kill him. But he still couldn't stay with her long that once the dragons were defeated, he vanished.

Jellal's departure didn't hurt her as much as it did in the last two times because even though she couldn't keep him in her life, she knew that he would live on in order to redeem his sins. She was just a little bit disappointed that he didn't even let their meeting end with a proper goodbye; although she understood that it would be emotionally hard for both of them to bid farewell to each other face to face.

Erza's life had mostly returned to normal afterwards, focusing on her guild, her comrades and jobs. But when she was alone, she would often wonder where Jellal had gone and when they would meet again.

Her questions were answered when Tartarus made their moves. However, she didn't really expect to meet Jellal at the time she learned that he was the key to activate FACE because she only hoped that the demons wouldn't find him. Even when she was suffering excruciating pain from the demonic tortures imposed on her by Kyouka who tried to find out where Jellal was from her mouth, she still prayed that he wouldn't appear in front of her so that he wouldn't be killed to activate FACE. When it was confirmed that he was still alive, she simply felt relieved and immediately focused on fighting the demons, never wishing that he would show up to help because it was a war between her guild and Tartarus.

But then Jellal came to her without her asking when her and her guild was in danger. His guild assisted them to escape from the fallen Plutogrim after they were freed from King of Hades' Alegria and settled them down in his secret base so that they could treat their injuries. They got some time to get together again, but they kept their distance and only talked about how to defeat Tartarus knowing that in front of world crisis, it wasn't the right time to sort out relationship problems. It was when he looked into her eyes with devotion and resolution in his own, asking for her permission for him to stay by her side when they attacked Tartarus because he wanted to protect her that she finally gave up resisting the urge to close their distance. She wrapped her arms around Jellal's torso to pull him into an embrace, telling him that she was more than happy to have him fight with her side by side. She felt empowered when he held her tight in his arms, whispered thank you to her before kissing her on the top of her head. But the demons were unbelievably strong that even with them joining forces, they almost died together in their opponents' hands. Yet, they won the war in the end with some luck. They were overjoyed that they finally let go the restraints on their feelings and Jellal's kiss fell on her lips this time. She was so relished in his touch that she didn't want to let him go anymore. But they broke their kiss anyway when their comrades found them.

There was a lot of follow up works to do for each guild after the war that Erza hadn't met Jellal for two weeks until they joined the party held last night for celebrating the defeat of Tartarus and the legalization of Crime Sorciere. Seeing that Jellal was now a free man but not a fugitive anymore, she confessed her feelings for him after the party with the help of some alcohol and sealed his lips with hers before he could reject her. He struggled to stop her action at first but loosened up soon probably because the alcohol he took in before was working on him too, and she found him kiss her back fervently while his hands caressed her body sensually. His passionate responses ignited certain need deep inside her and before she could stop herself, she asked him to take her to his room. But he didn't seem to mind her bluntness and led her to the hotel where he lived in during his stay in Magnolia. For the first time in her nineteen years of existence, she felt that her life had been completed without any regret when Jellal finally allowed them to love each other in the most intimate way, to make each other theirs not only by capturing their hearts but also by claiming their bodies. When he lied on top of her after their union, she thought that they were not going to be separated from each other again.

Erza hadn't expected that she would be all alone on the bed when she opened her eyes a few minutes ago. Jellal was not around in the room and she didn't receive any response from the bathroom when she called him. She couldn't believe that he would leave her just like that after whispering how much he loved her in her ears repeatedly in the night before. But if she was to guess, he might have gone without leaving a word to her because he couldn't face her, feeling regretted for having given in to their desires under the influence of alcohol to spend the night with her instead of sticking to his punishment. It tore her heart apart to come up with such thought in her mind. Yet, their every reunion in the past never really ended happily anyway so what made this time different, she asked herself.

Silent tears rolled down Erza's face when the door to the room opened. She turned around and saw Jellal closing the door with one hand, holding a box of cake in another hand.

"Jellal!" She smiled a relieved smile and wiped the tears away from her face.

It shocked Jellal to see Erza crying all of a sudden. Putting down the cake on the table, he ran to her and pulled her into an embrace.

"What happened?" He asked worriedly.

"Nothing. You've come back, so everything's fine now."

"You cried because I was not around you?" He asked sounding a little bit guilty. She was always a strong woman in his eyes so he hadn't thought that she would feel insecure when being left alone.

"I was just wondering…if you have decided that it was better to disappear from my life again."

"Of course not." He tenderly kissed her forehead. "I just went to buy you your favorite cake. But your misunderstanding was my fault. I should have left a message to you when I went out. I'm sorry."

"And I should have greater faith in you. I'm sorry too."

"It's okay. Just know that I'm not going to let you go anymore. Stay with me, Erza, and I'll do my very best to bring happiness to you."

She snuggled closer to him.

"I'll be always with you. Please don't let anything separate us again too, Jellal."

So that they would not need to suffer from not knowing when their next reunion would be anymore.


	5. Day 5 Protect

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail, Hiro Mashima dose.

* * *

Erza always knew that even she was crowned "Titania" for being arguably the strongest female mage in Fairy Tail, she was not invincible like how some people would think of her.

She had her times of weakness when she felt her magic power drained, her vision blur, her limbs numb and her heart slowly giving up the will to fight; occasions where she was barely able to get away from the crawl of Death, not because of her own strengths, but owned to the help she received from friends and comrades who valued her life as much as they cherished their owns. They pulled her up when her opponents tried to bring her to her knees, empowered her with confidence and courage to stand against enemies who vowed to take her down.

Not to mention Grandpa Rob and Simon, one a fatherly figure and the other a dear friend to her, who respectively chose to sacrifice their own lives in exchange for an opportunity for her to live on by shielding her from a deathly attack which she had no chance to avoid in different moments of her life.

She thought that it was ironic; that when people saved her life by taking her place to receive all the injurious attacks from her enemies, by swapping with her to accept Death's embrace, they were also simultaneously smashing the armor protecting her fragile and sensitive heart making her feel hurt and broken.

That was why, as much as Erza was grateful for having people by her side who was willing to help her unconditionally, she was also afraid of being the one being protected behind someone's back. She never wanted to see any friend, any comrade, risking their lives because of her weakness.

.

.

.

To protect Erza was a goal which Jellal never stopped pursuing in his life. He set the goal when he met Erza in the Tower of Heaven. At first, he wanted to protect the little redhead because she looked too weak and too fragile to be able to stand the hard work and abuse in the Tower on her own feet. But when he got to know her more, he realized that her strength laid in her kind and gentle heart. And every time she smiled, he seemed to see hope in his hopeless life in the Tower. From then, he swore that he would not only protect her from any physical harm; he would also protect her from anyone and anything which threatened to take that beautiful heart and smile away from her.

But it was also a goal which looked like unreachable for him no matter how hard he tried to run to it.

There were times when he tried but failed to protect her and it turned out that he was the one being protected by her. Like when she was taken away to the punishment room after their attempt to escape failed. Like when he stood in front of her trying to fight Midnight but was quickly defeated.

And he would always remember that during his years of being possessed, what he had ever done to her was to break her heart and to make her cry. So instead of being the one to protect her from any harm, he became the one who hurt her the most. Although he did save her in the end by fusing himself with the Etherion, he knew that his action was more like an attempt to redeem his sins with his own death. He was in despair after waking up from the possession, realizing how many unforgivable evil acts he had committed, that he just couldn't accept himself to shamelessly live on.

Jellal still failed to see how he could get closer to his goal even after he had returned to normal. Unlike when she was little, Erza had grown into a strong woman. She was surrounded by a lot of strong comrades too. He knew that she would be able to protect herself from dangers and harm and if she didn't, her comrades would. But he being a fugitive seemed to him that he had already lost the right to protect her, if there was any to start with, as he wasn't allowed to stay by her side to watch over her. He could only keep his distance from her, put his trust in her and her comrades' abilities in taking down any enemy came at her while praying for her safety in his heart.

.

.

.

When Erza was lying on the ground unable to move an inch further, being surrounded by mini dragons because of her refusal to display any weakness in front of her comrades, she calmly accepted that that was how her life would end without praying anyone to come to save her. No one should die from protecting her anymore. Let her life be taken if death was inevitable in the war against the dragons for either her or the ones she cared for, she wished.

But Jellal appeared suddenly to attack the mini dragons, just before she closed her eyes to wait for her doom to come.

Her heart almost stopped beating seeing Jellal's back in front of her. She held her breath as the fear of him would fell on the ground the next instance just like how Grandpa Rob and Simon did after stepping in her fight to protect her ran down her spine.

No words could describe how relieved and thankful she was when Jellal stood still and turned his face to look at her, asking her if she needed a hand. While she should be happy that she hadn't died in the hands of the mini dragons, all she could think of after being saved was the fact that Jellal was still alive.

He extended his hand to her when he had come to her side. She accepted his help and whispered to him that she was sorry.

Sorry for being weak. For being naive. For pretending to be strong. For needing his protection.

.

.

.

Jellal was looking for Ultear and Meredy in the city while eliminating the mini dragons. But in a corner of his heart, there was this voice keep whispering to him that Erza might be in danger. It eventually diverted his focus from searching for his comrades to the searching for the redhead. But without any hint on where Erza was, he could only let his instinct to guide his way.

The voice in his heart grew louder with every second pasted. Instead of walking with a fast pace, he started running as his worries for Erza's safety intensified. Then a group of mini dragons approaching a redhead on the ground caught his attention.

It took him less than a millisecond to recognize the redhead as Erza. But he didn't even need time to think about how to save her. With only the thought of protecting Erza in his mind, he was simply reacting on reflex when he ran between Erza and the mini dragon at his highest speed and destroyed the threads to Erza's safety in one blow.

It was as if to protect her was the most natural thing for him to do; that it was an inborn responsibility and ability.

He only realized that he didn't know if Erza was still alive after attacking the mini dragons. She looked unmoving when he spot her. He froze on the spot, was reluctant to turn back fearing to find out that he was in fact too late to save her life. It was until he noticed the slight movement of the redhead from the corner of his eye that he finally turned his head to look at Erza.

Jellal thanked whatever forces in the universe which allowed him to save Erza just in time from the attack of the mini dragons. And for once, he felt that he had truly reached the goal in his life.

But he remained humble without mentioning his effort in protecting her, not caring a bit if he would receive her recognition or thanks as long as she was alive. He asked her if she needed a hand, respecting her as the mighty Titania she was.

He was a little bit surprised that she said sorry to him when taking his hand. She should know that there was no need for her to feel sorry for being saved because everyone had their time of weakness when they needed help. She should also know that it wasn't any trouble for him to protect her because he was more than willing to do so to keep her alive. And she should know that it would mean a lot to him if she allowed him to protect her because protecting her was always a goal in his life.

But he didn't get the chance to tell her all these.

.

.

.

"Millianna…"


	6. Day 6 Happy

A/N: This is a sequel to Day 2 Cake, but it can be read individually too.

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima does.

* * *

Having completed another job successfully but spent half of the rewards on the damages they had caused as usual, Erza and her team mates decided to return to Fairy Tail to hang out with their comrades for a bit before returning to their respective home.

With endless energy, Natsu and Gray immediately got into a quarrel with Gajeel. Ignoring the guys, Lucy joined Levy who was reading Weekly Sorcerer and they started discussing some recent news in the magic world. Wendy was talking to Cana who asked the younger girl how their job went. And Happy was trying to make Charles and Lily laugh with some new jokes he thought of.

Erza went to the bar where Mirajane was working at.

"Mira, can I have a piece of strawberry cake please?"

To have her favorite food was always the best way for her to relax herself and to have her body recover from the tiredness after fighting.

"I'm sorry, Erza. There's no cake today." Mira smiled apologetically at Erza. "The oven is broken."

"Oh." Erza couldn't help sounding disappointed at Mira's answer to her request but then she nodded her understanding. "Well, never mind. I'll just buy one from other bakery on my way back to Fairy Hills. Talk to you later, Mira."

Erza walked away from the bar and made towards the front door of the guild to leave, wishing to get herself the cake she needed as soon as possible. But she stopped walking when a man block her way at the entrance.

"Hello, Miss." The man greeted Erza. "May I know if Miss Erza Scarlet's here?"

"I'm Erza Scarlet." Erza replied with a confident smile, wondering what the man needed from her.

"Great. Miss Scarlet, here an item delivered to you." The man explained and showed Erza the white square box wrapped with pink ribbons held in his left hand.

Erza took the box which looked like one used for take-away cake, being curious what was in it and who was the sender, and signed for it on the delivery note as per request of the man.

"Thanks, Miss Scarlet. Have a good day!" The man left the guild after completing his job.

Instead of leaving as originally planned, Erza turned around to go back into the guild. She sat at a random table and put down the box on it. There was an envelope with her name written on it stuck on one side of the box, so she detached it from the box and took out a folded paper from it. Having unfolded the paper in her hands, she searched for the name of the sender and her eyes widened slightly when she found it.

"Jellal." She whispered with a sense of longing in her voice. With softened gaze and a faint smile on her lips, she started reading the content.

"_Dear Erza,_

_I thought of your smile when I saw a poster of strawberry cake outside a bakery which I happened to pass by after attending a trial at the Magic Council. I had been given a really hard time by the Council Members. So I decided to have a piece of your favorite cake hoping that it would shake off my bad mood like how it would cheer you up magically. And it did. _

_I hope it doesn't sound too awkward to you that I thought I should also thank you for making my day better because I wouldn't have turned to strawberry cake for comfort if it wasn't for your love in it and the smile it brought up on your face. _

_I may not be an expertise in strawberry cake like you are, but the cake tasted really good in my unprofessional opinion. I hope you like this little gift of thanks from me and may it bring happiness to you._

_Sincerely,_

_Jellal"_

Getting to know that Jellal thought of her was enough to make Erza's heart fluttered and to turn the color on her cheeks to pink. She reread the letter again memorizing his words to her before putting it back in the envelope. She then pulled off the ribbons and removed the box cover, revealing the strawberry cake Jellal chosen for her.

Picking up the plastic fork provided in the box, Erza took a bite of the cake. The smile on her lips grew wilder because the cake did taste really good; even thought it was still not as good as the one from her favorite bakery in Magnolia if she was to be honest. However, this cake had already gained a special place in her heart because it was Jellal who brought it for her. With each bite of the cake she took, it was as if she could feel Jellal's feelings in it, which gave her a kind of happiness she had never felt when eating other cakes. It not only delighted her taste buds and satisfied her stomach, but also warmed her heart.

Erza thought she now understood how Jellal felt when he was eating the cake while thinking of her smile.

He could enjoy the cake because it tasted good. But what truly brightened him up should be the connection he felt between him and her through eating her favorite food. It was a connection which gave him the feelings that he was not alone to face the difficulties in life; that there was someone by his side supporting him to overcome the obstacles in his way.

But Erza wished that she could accompany Jellal to comfort him in person instead. And with him by her side physically, she was certain that she would be even happier than eating the strawberry cake he bought her.

After finished the cake, Erza also made a decision.

.

.

.

Jellal had returned to his guild for three days since the trial at Magic Council. Looking out the window of his room, he saw the red roses planted by Meredy were blooming. The color of the flower reminded him the color of Erza's hair, and he wondered if the redhead enjoyed the strawberry cake he sent her.

His thought was interrupted when someone knocked on the door of his room.

"Come in." He turned his gaze to the open door to see who his guest was. "Erza?"

Erza giggled, amused to see the surprised expression on Jellal's face.

"What brings you to Crime Sorciere? Anything I could help?" Asked with concern, Jellal left his seat and walked to Erza. He was happy to see the woman in his mind appear in front of him but was also worried if something had happened which made her to play him a sudden visit.

Erza closed the door and smiled sweetly at Jellal.

"I come to share happiness with you to thank you for the strawberry cake."

"Oh. I see." Erza's answer washed away Jellal's worry but also tinted his face with a shade of light pink. "But t-that's not necessary. The cake was only a little gift. I'm happy if you are happy with it. "

"I'm very happy with it. But I think true happiness would be to do the thing you enjoy with the person y-y-you…you hold close to your heart." Erza stammered; her face heat like burning. But she resisted the urge to look away from Jellal to hide her nervous and locked eyes with him. "Jellal, will you be willing to share my most favorite cake from Magnolia with me?"

Holding up in Erza's raised hands was a square pink cake box.

Jellal scratched his head messing up his blue locks further, looking utterly uncertain of how he should respond to Erza's request as his eyes moved between Erza's eyes and the box in her hands. He so desperately wanted to say yes, being deeply touched to hear Erza hinting that he was her dear one and hoping to give the woman he loved the happiness she wished for. However, the constant guilt in his heart warned him that a sinner like him didn't have the right to claim such precious position in Erza's life.

"I-I…I think…"

"Jellal? Yes?"

Erza's hopeful voice finally won over the voice of Jellal's guilt. Jellal stopped scratching his head and breathed in deeply to calm himself down.

"Yes." He answered with a gentle smile on his face.

Erza swore that her most favorite cake tasted ten times better when Jellal was eating it with her. And seeing the genuine happiness displayed on Jellal's face every time he gazed at her really made her heart jumped for joy.

"Jellal."

"Yes?"

"You are truly the biggest source of my happiness, you know." Erza said with a satisfied smile on her face.


	7. Day 7 Injuries

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima does.

* * *

Sitting on a rock, Jellal was in the process of removing the bandage wrapped around his injured lower abdomen in order to change it to new ones. The members of his guild were all occupied at the moment that no one could give him a hand.

Macbeth was sleeping. Richard was lecturing Wendy about what was love. Sorano was talking to Mira about their sisters. Sawyer was asking Jet to run a race with him. Meredy had gone to meet Juvia and Gray. Erik was stalking Kinana.

"You need any help?"

Hearing the familiar voice, Jellal raised his head to look at its' owner. Erza was standing in front of him; her head, arms and legs were wrapped with bandage.

"Porlyusica had done treating your bruises? How are you feeling?" Jellal asked, concerned about Erza's conditions.

Fairy Tail and Crime Sorciere were currently gathering in the forest where Porlyusica lived in after taking down Tartarus. It was the curler who suggested Fairy Tail to come with her since they had no place to go after defeating Tartarus as their guild had been blown away. Besides, she needed to treat their members who got injured in the fight with the demons. However, it was Erza who asked Crime Sorciere to come with Fairy Tail so that their members could receive Porlyusica's treatment too after she had got the consent from the rosy haired woman.

Jellal had wanted to decline Erza's offer at first. He was afraid that to let Porlyusica treat him and the members of his guild would add burden to her, which might delay her from curing Fairy Tail's members. Besides, he judged that the injuries they received from the demons weren't that serious that they should be able to take care of themselves. However, Meredy wished to spend some times with Juvia and Gray while Erik was pressuring him to accept Erza's offer for reasons unknown to him. Finally, for Meredy's sake and under Erik's persistence, he agreed with Erza's suggestion but insisted that Porlyusica should only treat his guild's members after taking care of Fairy Tail's.

Erza had no objection to Jellal's request as she was simply happy that he was willing to accept her goodwill. But she was slightly nervous deep in her heart, as she wondered if she would have the chance to spend some times with Jellal during Crime Sorcieres' stay with Fairy Tail.

So once she noticed that Jellal was alone by himself, she decided to approach him.

"She did." She answered Jellal's questions with a firm nod. "I'm feeling okay."

"Good to hear that." Jellal gave her a small smile. "But I still think that you should take some good rest in the camp in order to have early recovery instead of coming outside."

Erza pouted. Jellal understood that she wasn't happy with him indirectly saying no to the help she offered him. Nonetheless, he couldn't help but think that she looked kinda cute when pouting.

"I don't really feel that tired, thanks to Wendy's magic." Crossing her arms in front of her chest, Erza bent forward to Jellal and looked into his eyes with her big brown orbs. "So, let me help you, would you?"

Jellal leaned back a little in order to keep the distance between his face and Erza's.

"O-okay." He wouldn't want to get on Erza's bad side.

Erza straightened up and grinned at Jellal, satisfied with his answer this time.

Then much to Jellal's surprise, Erza requipped. His eyes widened a little and his face turned slightly pink as Erza finished changing into her nurse uniform.

He didn't think that there existed a nurse as sexy as Erza in any other place in the world. She now had her long scarlet tresses tied up into a bun behind the nurse' cap, revealing the perfect curve of her neck, while the deep v-neck one piece nurse dress which ended two inches above mid-thigh (_Is it _really_ a nurse dress?_ Jellal suspected.) did nothing to cover her cleavage and her long but bandaged legs.

"Is it…necessary to change into this to help me?"Jellal hesitantly asked Erza.

It wasn't like he had never saw Erza dressing sexily before. He just wasn't sure if it was a good idea to let her touch him in her sexy nurse look, even the purpose was to bandage the injury on his lower abdomen, because it might give rise to some inappropriate fantasies about them in his head.

_Shit_. Jellal cursed inwardly as he realized that certain fantasy had started forming in his head already, and the pink on his face turned a shade deeper.

But Erza had no idea about Jellal's struggle.

"Of course, because I need to act professionally." She answered matter-of-factly.

Erza kneeled down in front of Jellal between his parted legs. Jellal raised his head slightly, avoiding looking down at Erza as his gaze would probably fall on her revealed cleavage if he did.

Erza's hands smoothly removed the remaining bandage on Jellal's lower abdomen. At the same time, she couldn't stop her eyes from roaming Jellal's board chest and six-packs allured by his well-built body. It reminded her their encounter at the Ryuuzetsu Land during the Grand Magic Games, and her face heated up at the memories.

When she had done removing the bandage, she stared at the two seven inches long wounds on his stomach caused by Kyouka's crawls. Shaking ever so slightly, two of her fingers tenderly grazed the skin around the wounds.

Jellal shrank, feeling his skin burned at where touched by Erza.

"I'm sorry!" Erza exclaimed noticing Jellal's reaction, withdrew her hand from his stomach immediately and looked at him with worried eyes. "Did I hurt you?"

"No, no. Don't worry." Jellal shook his head and assured Erza that he was fine with a smile.

"Then…should I continue with cleaning the wounds?

"Yes, please."

Erza then started cleaning the wounds on Jellal's stomach with sterilized pads as carefully and as gently as possible. On Jellal's end, he did his best to restrain himself from moving because of the pain felt from the wounds and bit down any whine, not wanting to worry Erza.

"I'm going to bind up the wounds now."

Erza informed Jellal after finishing the cleaning, holding the long white cloth in her hands. Jellal gave her a nod of approval. They looked at each other losing in each other's eyes; both of them being unaware that in Porlyusica's cottage, some people who were watching and hearing them through the window started to worry about Jellal's fate in Erza's hands.

"Erza is going to wrap Jellal up like a gift now." Natsu informed his comrades after hearing what Erza told Jellal.

"Poor Jellal. His wounds would probably bleed again." Gray sighed, putting down the ice made binoculars. "But I wish him good luck that he wouldn't get broken ribs like how I did when Erza treated me on Tenrou Island."

"Hey, should we stop Erza then? It seems not good for us to watch Jellal's injuries get worsen under Erza's treatment." Lucy asked.

"You can try if you want to." Gray replied. "Giving that you are not afraid of the consequences of interrupting what Erza is doing."

"Well, I think I will simply pray for Jellal then." Lucy gave up taking any action remembering Erza's wrath when she got disturbed.

They then continued observing their redhead comrade with her blue haired friend. Their jaws dropped to the ground very soon when seeing Erza acting like a real nurse, professionally wrapping the bandage around Jellal's torso.

Jellal was also amazed by Erza's skills. But his attention quickly turned to their closeness. He could feel Erza's fingers brushing his skin when doing the binding. He was also aware that she would lean closer to him when she moved her hands to his back to encircle his lower abdomen with the bandage. Sometimes her head was so close to his chest that just made him want to pull her into an embrace.

Not to mention that every time she leaned forward to him, her breasts seemed to get closer to his crotch as well, which forced him to keep his head up to avoid looking down at her so that he wouldn't start imagining pervert things which would lead to some embarrassing reaction from his side.

Therefore, when Erza finished bandaging him, Jellal felt kind of relieved that he didn't need to face more temptation from Erza.

"Thank you for helping."

"You are welcomed." Smiling, Erza stood up and requipped into her normal attire.

"Now you have helped me with the bandaging, it's time for you to go to get some rest, Erza."

"Well…" Erza didn't want to leave Jellal's side yet. "I think you need some rest too. You should come with me."

Without waiting for Jellal's answer, Erza grabbed his hand and dragged him to her camp.

"Wait! Erza!" Jellal tried to put a stop to Erza's action. But he didn't try hard enough and soon gave up resistance but followed her willingly.

As Erza and Jellal disappeared from their sight, Natsu, Gray and Lucy left the window's side as well.

"Wow, Erza being all tender and considerate, that didn't happen often." Natsu commented, crossing his arms.

"I wouldn't mind letting her bind up my wounds next time if she treats me with the way she treated Jellal." Gray added.

"It's just natural for a girl to act differently in front of the person she loves romantically." Smiling happily for her redhead friend, Lucy shared her views with the boys. "Even being Titania is no exception."


	8. Day 8 Trust

A/N: We are advised that we can choose any theme we like for Day 8 and "Trust" is my choice.

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima dose.

* * *

Jellal was all alone in Crime Sorciere's guild building and found the quietness didn't make him feel exactly comfortable. For one, he had got used to the sounds of quarrelling, teasing and laughter from his members which made the dark world he was locked in due to his blindness less lonely and livelier. For two, his hearing had become more sensitive now after he lost his eyesight that eerier sound of silence had become more ear piercing to him.

Not that it would make him feel regret for demanding all his members to go to investigate a rumor about some dark guilds trying to rebuild the Tower of Heaven to revive Zeref though. And he smiled remembering how Meredy had refused to leave him alone in the beginning. Although being the Master of his guild he was recognized as powerful and intelligent, Meredy didn't always trust his ability of caring for himself due to his blindness like an overprotective sister to him. He had to remind her that this wouldn't be the first time for him to stay in the guild by himself and that he had lived in darkness for over a year now that he was absolutely capable of living alone to eventually convince Meredy to join the operation.

It should take at least a few more days for his members to return with the information he requested them to collect for him to analyze and formulate strategies, Jellal predicted, and he could do nothing exact waiting at the moment. Trying not to think about how useless he was at times like this, he decided to occupy himself with some training.

Grabbing a staff in his right hand, Jellal walked to the front door of the guild. But before he pulled open the door, he heard that there was someone approaching the guild. He was certain that the sound of the steps didn't belong to any of his members, but it was familiar to him. He listened more carefully, and recognized the sound of boots scraping the cobblestone path outside and the small and low metallic sound from the contact between metals.

He opened the door. Breeze gently ran through his blue locks while bringing along a certain sweet scene which he missed.

"Erza?"

"Hi, Jellal." Erza's voice was soft. Jellal could imagine her saying his name with a gentle smile on her lips, which naturally brought up a small smile on his lips too.

"You gave me a nice surprise, Erza. I haven't expected any guest to come. What bring you to Crime Sorciere suddenly?"

"Meredy sent a message to me the day before. She told me that you planned on staying here alone while they went on mission and asked me to come to see you if I had time, just in case you need any help."

Jellal shook his head and his smile turned into an embarrassed one.

"Meredy was a little bit overacted sometimes. I'm sorry for the trouble she caused you. But I am perfectly fine to handle my daily life. So, you don't need to worry about me."

Jellal didn't hear an immediate response from Erza. He couldn't tell her emotions by reading the expression on her face either. It made him feel a little bit nervous not knowing what she was thinking right now.

A sigh from Erza broke the silence.

"I know that you are very independent and strong, Jellal, that you can live by yourself under no matter what circumstances. I told Meredy the same. But maybe I come to see you simply because…I miss you?" Another sigh. "I haven't seen you for half a year already."

"Y-yes, y-you're right." Jellal couldn't help but panic a little as Erza sounded like being hurt. "I guess you don't really need any special reason to go to see a friend."

"You're right. We're friends, as always, aren't we?" Erza chuckled dryly. Jellal would be lying if he said he didn't notice the bitterness in her voice. But what could he do other than staying in Erza's friendzone? His blindness simply added one more reason besides his sins and guilt to explain why he wasn't the ideal man for Erza.

"Anyway. Are you going out to somewhere? Mind if I accompany you?"

Jellal snapped out of his own thought hearing Erza spoke again after a short pause.

"I'm thinking to do some training." He answered candidly.

"Training?" The light and expectant tone in Erza's voice told Jellal that she was quite interested in what he planned to do. "Can I join? It's more effective to practice your skills by having an opponent to fight with you."

"I certainly agree with your point. But, Erza, I'm afraid that I may accidentally hurt you in the training as I can't see now."

"What's the problem of getting hurt in a training session?" Erza ended her question with a light chuckle as if she found Jellal's worry was funny.

"When I practiced with Natsu and Gray, we all got bruises from one another's attacks. But that was fine because we knew that we didn't hurt our comrades with the intention to kill them. That was only how we found out our weaknesses so that we could improve ourselves next time." Erza's voice was unwavering while she elaborated her views, which wasn't a surprise to Jellal as he always knew that Erza was firm in what she believed.

"So don't worry about hurting me in the training. I may open some wounds on your body too. But I trust that we won't injure each other more than necessary since we are both experienced and skillful fighters." Jellal could almost see Erza smiling confidently at him. And he was amazed by her trust in him.

He had to admit that Erza had her points. However, he still found it difficult to accept her suggestion.

"But I don't want to hurt you in any way, any more. I already hurt you more than enough in the past."

"You need to get over our past, Jellal. And put some faith in me and in yourself too that we won't cause any unnecessary harm to each other when our fight only serves the purpose of improving our strength." Erza said determinately and grasped Jellal's hand which was not holding the staff. "Let's go. Tell me where your training field is."

It took Jellal some time to let Erza's words sink in his heart and when he did, he couldn't suppress a relieved chuckle from leaving his mouth. The woman never stopped amazing him with the strong will she displayed when dealing with their unpleasant history. She had such a beautiful and generous heart that even he had failed her trust in him more than one time in the past that she could still believe in him so unconditionally. He really wanted to treasure the trust she put in him and not to disappoint her again.

"Thanks for your trust, Erza. It means a lot to me." He squeezed Erza's hand a bit harder to express his gratefulness as he couldn't display his feeling through his eyes anymore. "There's a cobblestone path on the right side of the guild building. Follow it to the end and it's where Crime Sorciere's training field locates at. It takes about 20 minutes of walk."

It was the first time for both Erza and Jellal to fight with each other in a training session. They both started cautiously as Erza wasn't sure how much Jellal's fighting skills had been affected by his blindness while Jellal was still reluctant to launch attacks at Erza which bought back some bad memories to him. But not long Erza started getting more serious seeing how smoothly and effortlessly Jellal was able to dodge her attacks. Jellal tried to keep on using defensive strategy to either block or dodge Erza's attacks without fighting back but soon he felt a number of cuts left on his arms and legs by Erza's swords.

"Jellal, I believe you can do more than just dodge my attacks!" Erza shouted and flied some more swords at Jellal.

Jellal rolled over on the ground to get away from the flying swords. He gritted his teeth knowing that Erza was definitely not taking the training in a hasty and superficial manner. Remembering Erza's words and trust, he launched some magic beams at Erza's direction with new determination once he stepped on the ground again. He then heard the sound of his attacks crashed to metals but not screaming. He therefore judged that Erza had blocked his attacks successfully.

"That's it Jellal! We should make good use of this training!" Erza sounded sincerely happy and excited, which truly lessened the worries restraining Jellal from fighting with his real power.

"Be prepared for my next attack, Erza." He grinned.

They tried out different combinations of attack and defense and adjusting their strategies from time to time. There were times when Jellal got panic when hearing Erza whined or cried that he tried to run to Erza fearing he might have hurt her more than he intended to but he was always stopped by Erza's counterattack.

And as the training went on, Jellal found his level of concentration dropped. Without his eyesight, he depended largely on his hearing and reflex to react to the happenings around him but it exhausted his mind over a long period of time. When facing a real enemy, he therefore would try to end the fight as quick as possible. But the training wasn't about defeating your opponent quickly but was about perfecting one's skills that it lasted longer than Jellal used to fight in a real battle, which put his ability to always keep his mind focused on test.

Finally, their training ended when Jellal successfully avoid Erza's spear but failed to block her leg from kicking him and knocked him to the ground. Jellal felt Erza's weight on him when she straddled his waist before he noticed that she had also pinned his right hand on the ground, grasping his wrist.

Jellal couldn't help but feel nostalgia as memory of him being held down in a similar way by Erza in the Tower rushed back to him.

"You win this fight, Erza." Words slipped out his mouth automatically.

Erza tightened her fingers wrapped around his wrist for a short moment before she slowly released her hold.

"I did." She spoke softly. "But you enjoyed the fight nonetheless, didn't you?"

Jellal had no doubt that Erza was a great opponent to fight with. She possessed the power and skills which matched his, which made fighting her a challenging but also an interesting and exciting experience.

"I did. I never would have thought that I could have a friendly match with you as nice as this one."

"There's a lot of thing you can achieve, Jellal, if only you can believe in yourself." Jellal wondered if Erza was smiling while speaking before he felt Erza's soft and warm palm press against his cheek gently. "You have already shown me that with resolution and confidence you were able to look past our history to accept my challenge in our training. I hope that you can remember these feelings that one day, you can also overcome the obstacles, be it your guilt or your blindness, which prevents you from reaching out to what you truly desire in your heart."

"Erza, you always did your best to encourage me." Jellal grasped Erza's hand placed on his cheek and sighed. She was so close to him yet he still felt that he was so far away from her. "But I honestly don't know if I would be able to do what you suggested."

"Don't doubt yourself. I'm sure you can." Erza said firmly. "Nothing's unreachable if you have faith and are willing to put effort in making thing happen."

Jellal then felt something touched his lips, lightly and quickly, which made his heart skip a beat.

"Also don't forget that you have my support too." Erza whispered softly.

"Thank you." Jellal responded in a low but sincere voice. He couldn't repress the new hope of being with Erza from growing in his heart after hearing Erza's words. "I'll try to clear the obstacles in my way to my target. Please give me some time."

"Sure! And I…I hope that I could hear good news from you soon." Jellal didn't fail to notice how Erza sounded from excited to timid while speaking of her expectation. "But now, let's go back to your guild to have our wounds treated first."

Erza withdrew her hand from Jellal's grasp before standing up. Feeling her weight on his body vanished, Jellal sat up. Erza then grabbed his hands and pulled him up from the sitting position.

"Erza. Did I…hurt you badly anywhere?" Jellal asked once he stood on the ground, feeling the pain at his abdomen which had received a kick from Erza before.

"Well, there are some bruises and cuts here and there on my body but nothing serious."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm. Just trust me and believe in what I told you, okay?" Erza held Jellal's hand firmly in hers.

"Okay." Jellal answered after a moment of pause with a relieved smile.

He would always trust her because between the two of them, she was always the honest one who spoke the truth.

* * *

A/N: My heartfelt thank you to everyone who reviewed, favorited and/or followed these oneshots written for Jerza Week 2014.


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